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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Fabian Bald; Marcel Henkel |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes that spatial policies improve economic outcomes by reducing barriers to supplying labour, with heterogeneous effects across demographic groups. Using quasi-experimental variation in Germany’s fiscal transfer system, we estimate higher employment elasticities for female workers, with the strongest impact in places where public childcare supply is smaller. We propose a quantitative spatial model incorporating location decisions and group-specific frictions to labour force participation. We establish that optimal spatial policy would not unambiguously direct resources to low-wage areas but additionally target regions with high labour supply elasticities, yielding substantial welfare and labour force gains in the aggregate. This paper argues that accounting for differential employment responses significantly alters optimal place-based policy design, highlighting a novel channel for addressing efficiency and equity concerns in ageing economies. |
| Keywords: | Place-Based Policies, Local Public Goods, Labour Force Participation, Fiscal Transfers, Spatial Sorting |
| JEL: | H41 H73 J16 J22 J61 R23 R58 |
| Date: | 2025–03–17 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdp:dpaper:0063 |
| By: | Carlos Carrillo-Tudela (Department of Economics, University of Essex); Alex Clymo (Department of Economics, University of Essex); Cristina Lafuente (Department of Economics, University of Bath); Ludo Visschers (U. Carlos III de Madrid and Edinburgh Futures Institute, University of Edinburgh); David Zentler-Munro (Department of Economics, University of Essex) |
| Abstract: | We use a simple yet powerful approach to investigate the dynamics of worker flows across sectors in the Spanish economy. The method imposes a minimal amount of structure on the data by assuming sector-specific matching functions, and backs out the direction of workers' search intensities across sectors using data on realised worker flows and vacancies. We find that aggregate search intensity in Spain has been increasing since the pandemic and has led aggregate labour shortages to be below pre-pandemic levels by 2023. However, this boost of search intensity is directed to industries with low matching efficiencies and job finding rates. As a result, aggregate match formation is near to a 10-years low relative to the number of matches that would result if search intensity was allocated to maximise total matches given the observed vacancy distribution and match efficiencies across sectors. |
| Keywords: | Job Search; Industry mobility; Vacancies; Mismatch; Labour Shortages |
| JEL: | E24 J23 J62 J63 J64 |
| Date: | 2025–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:edn:esedps:317 |
| By: | Inés Berniell (CEDLAS-IIE-FCE-UNLP); Leonardo Gasparini (CEDLAS-IIE-FCE-UNLP & CONICET); Mariana Marchionni (CEDLAS-IIE-FCE-UNLP & CONICET); Mariana Viollaz (CEDLAS-IIE-FCE-UNLP & IZA) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of economic fluctuations on social norms, specifically exploring the link between changes in unemployment and shifts in attitudes toward gender roles in the labor market. The results are not immediately obvious, as the literature suggests several potential mechanisms with conflicting outcomes. Using microdata from the World Values Survey for a panel of 103 countries that cover close to 90% of the world population, we estimate individual-level probability models of agreement with traditional gender roles over the period 1995 to 2021, including country and year fixed effects. We find that an increase in unemployment is associated to more conservative views about gender roles in the labor market. This result is remarkably robust across different groups and specifications. We also find that some contextual factors matter. In particular, the link between higher unemployment and more conservative views on gender roles is stronger in countries with, on average, higher gender inequality and lower female labor force participation. Overall, this study contributes to a growing body of research on the complex relationship between economic conditions, gender norms, and social change. |
| JEL: | J16 J21 J22 Z1 |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dls:wpaper:0346 |
| By: | Christina Siegert |
| Abstract: | The transition to parenthood is a critical period that exacerbates gendered economic inequality, with mothers more likely than their partners to experience employment disruptions and income losses. This study examines individual poverty risk among partnered indivduals (N=1, 237) in Germany from a life course perspective, analyzing how gendered career patterns around first births between 1992 and 2013 intersect with changes in individual poverty risk, i.e. under the assumption of no income pooling. Applying multichannel sequence analysis (MCSA) to data from the Socio-Economic Panel, the findings reveal substantial heterogeneity in how poverty–employment trajectories unfold after childbirth, both between genders and among women. Men’s employment and financial stability remain largely unchanged after parenthood, whereas women’s economic trajectories vary widely. While most women are financially stable before childbirth, their post-birth pathways diverge. Some return to work quickly with minimal poverty risk, while others take extended parental leave and face prolonged risks. A smaller group is persistently vulnerable even before childbirth, with consistently weak labor market attachment. Over time, the share of women in financially stable trajectories has increased, likely reflecting policy changes that support earlier labor market reintegration. However, a subset of women remains at high risk, particularly those with lower pre-birth earnings. The findings highlight the necessity of long observation periods, as poverty risks evolve beyond the initial years of parenthood, and demonstrate the utility of MCSA in describing these dynamics. |
| Keywords: | poverty, employment, childbirth, motherhood, life course, sequence analysis |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp1220 |
| By: | Mehic, Adrian (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)); Mosaddegh, Arian (Confederation of Swedish Enterprise) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of a Swedish policy allowing manufacturing firms to influence the curricula of local educational institutions. Our analysis shows that the program has contributed to a significant reduction in youth unemployment, as well as an increase in marriage rates and male fertility rates at the municipality level. We further show that these positive labor market outcomes are due to improved quality and relevance of vocational education, rather than an increase in the number of graduates. However, using data covering the universe of Swedish firms, we find that manufacturing firms in neighboring municipalities saw declines in productivity, suggesting some negative spillover effects of the program. |
| Keywords: | Youth unemployment; Vocational education; Fertility |
| JEL: | E24 I26 J12 J24 |
| Date: | 2025–03–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1524 |
| By: | Mengyao Wu (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Silvia Loi (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); D. Susie Lee (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Alberto del Rey Poveda |
| Keywords: | Spain, child care, family, female employment, immigration |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2025-008 |
| By: | Ayhan Adams; Katrin Golsch |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the impact of child-related absence from work on the income of working mothers and fathers, addressing a significant research gap in sociology and labour economics. While previous research has established that gender and parenthood significantly influence income levels, the consequences of caring for a sick child—a common and unpredictable responsibility—remain inadequately explored. We utilise longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (2010-2022) to examine how the accumulation of absence days due to child illness affects income levels and changes in income over four years among parents while controlling for various job and family-related characteristics. Our findings indicate that increased absenteeism related to child sickness adversely affects fathers’ income, aligning with signalling theory, which suggests that absent workers may be perceived as less committed by employers. In contrast, mothers appear to experience less significant income impacts from similar absences, indicating that the stigma associated with absence days may be less pronounced. Additionally, we investigate the role of socio-economic status in these effects, finding that higher income positions do not amplify the negative signalling associated with child-related absenteeism for fathers. Meanwhile, we observed no association between mothers’ income and child sickness-related absence when distinguishing between higher and lower income positions, potentially indicating prevailing gendered expectations in the workplace. The results underscore the need for further research into the socio-economic implications of caring for a sick child and employer perceptions to gain deeper insights into the dynamics of work-life balance and career consequences. |
| Keywords: | child sick care; income; gender; signalling theory |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp1219 |
| By: | Salvatore Carrozzo; Elisabetta Lodigiani; Alessandra Venturini |
| Abstract: | The consumption of cultural goods can play a crucial role in the social and economic integration of immigrants into their destination country. In this paper, we investigate the effect of the cultural national program, IoStudio, designed to enhance the consumption of cultural goods - by providing free or discount access - among upper secondary students in Italy, on post-secondary investment in education and early labor market conditions among young immigrants. Using data from a unique survey conducted by the Institute for Multiethnic Studies (ISMU) on a representative sample of the entire immigrant population in the Italian Lombardy region and employing a difference-in differences estimator, we find that the IoStudio policy has positive effects on investment in post-secondary education. Additionally, young foreigners exposed to the policy exhibit higher earnings, at least in the short run, when they enter the labour market. We claim that cultural consumption by immigrants is a relevant concern, deserving close attention in terms of increasing social capital and labour market inclusion. |
| Keywords: | Cultural participation; migrants; integration; Italy |
| JEL: | Z11 J61 J62 I26 |
| Date: | 2025–03–26 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csl:devewp:501 |
| By: | Eva O. Arceo-Gómez (Department of Economics, CIDE) |
| Abstract: | The status of women in Economics in Mexico is unmoved. Progress has stalled at all levels. Female representation among students has varied from around 38 to 42% on average between 2010 and 2022. I found tiny declines in female representation from undergraduate to doctoral level, so there is no strong evidence of a leaky pipeline. Among researchers, 34% of the Economics researchers in the National System of Researchers are women. Female representation falls sharply for researchers as we climb the system's ladder. At the top of the system are four male economists per woman. Women's representation in academic production has increased over time, but for women in Mexican institutions, it has stalled, even though they are now teaching relatively less than men. Overall, Mexican women in Economics are facing stagnation in their progress toward a more balanced representation in student bodies, faculties, and academic production.Length: 54 pages |
| Keywords: | Mexico, Economics, women, underrepresentation |
| JEL: | A11 J16 J44 |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:emc:wpaper:dte649 |
| By: | Francesco Scervini (University of Pavia - Department of Social and Political Science); Serena Trucchi (Cardiff University - Cardiff Business School, Netspar and Masaryk University) |
| Abstract: | This paper contributes to the understanding of alcohol consumption in adulthood by investigating the impact of a specific life event: the transition to an empty nest, when adult children move out of the parental home. Our findings show a significant increase in alcohol consumption in an empty nest, characterised by more regular drinking patterns and a moderate increase in daily intake. The most affected groups include couples, high income individuals, those actively employed, and respondents aged 45-60. We also provide evidence on the mechanisms underlying this relationship, supporting a key role of relaxation and changes in time use. |
| Keywords: | Empty nest, alcohol consumption, longitudinal data |
| JEL: | D1 I12 I31 J14 |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mub:wpaper:2025-02 |
| By: | Mathilde Sage (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES)) |
| Abstract: | Does improving widows’ inheritance rights have the potential to reduce fertility rates in Sub-Saharan Africa? This paper exploits a natural experiment in Namibia to identify the causal impact of a reform implemented in 2008 that improved widow’s inheritance rights on fertility behaviors. I combine pre-reform variations in customary inheritance laws across traditional authorities with time variation, using a difference-in-differences strategy. The results indicate that the reform led to a 24% decrease in the annual birth rate, equivalent to a reduction of one child over a woman’s reproductive life. Additionally, the reform delayed the age at first birth by 5.5 months. I find suggestive evidence that women had more children and at an earlier age as a mitigating strategy against the prevalent risk of dispossession in widowhood. In contexts where the widowhood risk may materialize at a young age due to large age gap between partners and to women’s longer life expectancy, women anticipate the need to have a financially independent child by their 40’s. These findings suggest that protecting widows’ inheritance rights could be a novel, low-cost policy lever to reduce fertility rates and delay early childbearing, addressing major development challenges in the subcontinent. |
| Keywords: | Inheritance rights, Widows, Fertility, sub-Saharan Africa, Insurance |
| JEL: | O12 J12 J13 J16 |
| Date: | 2025–02–25 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctl:louvir:2025004 |
| By: | Hoang, Diem |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the impacts of trade liberalization on the marital and fertility choices of women in Vietnam. Applying a regional exposure approach, we leverage the U.S.-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) as an exogenous and positive shock to the nation's export growth. Our results indicate that young women (aged 18-28) in provinces more exposed to export tariff reductions tend to delay marriage and childbirth. In contrast, we observe no significant impact on the marriage and fertility decisions of older women, nor any changes in sex-selective behavior across the general population. Further analysis reveals that this trade shock does not influence women's participation in the labor force or their employment status, nor does it lead to increased gender segregation in the labor market. The observed delay in marriage and fertility among young women may be attributed to a shift from agriculture to manufacturing and women staying longer at schools. |
| Abstract: | In diesem Beitrag werden die Auswirkungen der Handelsliberalisierung auf die Heirats- und Fertilitätsentscheidungen von Frauen in Vietnam evaluiert. Unter Anwendung eines regionalen Expositions-Ansatzes nutzen wir das bilaterale Handelsabkommen (BTA) zwischen den USA und Vietnam als exogenen und positiven Schock für das Exportwachstum des Landes. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen, dass junge Frauen (im Alter von 18 bis 28 Jahren) in Provinzen, die stärker von Exportzollsenkungen betroffen sind, dazu neigen, Heirat und Geburten zu verschieben. Im Gegensatz dazu beobachten wir keine signifikanten Auswirkungen auf die Heirats- und Fertilitätsentscheidungen älterer Frauen und auch keine Veränderungen im geschlechtsspezifischen Verhalten in der Allgemeinbevölkerung. Eine weitere Analyse zeigt, dass dieser Handelsschock weder einen Einfluss auf die Erwerbsbeteiligung von Frauen oder ihren Beschäftigungsstatus hat, noch zu einer verstärkten Geschlechtertrennung auf dem Arbeitsmarkt führt. Die beobachtete Verzögerung bei Heirat und Geburten bei jungen Frauen kann auf eine Verlagerung von der Landwirtschaft zum verarbeitenden Gewerbe und auf einen längeren Schulbesuch der Frauen zurückgeführt werden. |
| JEL: | F61 J13 J16 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:314409 |
| By: | Antonio Cabrales (Department of Economics, Universidad Carlos III Madrid); Lorenzo Ductor (Department of Economics Theory and History, Universidad de Granada); Ericka Rascon-Ramirez (Department of Economics, CIDE and Middlesex University London); Ismael Rodriguez-Lara (Department of Economics, Universidad de Malaga, and Economic Science Institute, Chapman University) |
| Abstract: | Women often find themselves in teams that hinder their productivity and earnings. We analyze the role of homophily and gender stereotypes in preferences for team formation and examine the effect of information on changing these preferences. We find that women are expected to perform better in female-type tasks (such as text and emotion-recognition). However, people prefer forming teams with their same gender. Our findings suggest that information can mitigate -but it does not eliminate- the influence of homophily on team formation. |
| Keywords: | gender differences, expectations, collaboration, network formation, team production |
| JEL: | C91 D03 D60 D81 |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:emc:wpaper:dte648 |
| By: | Anselm Küsters; Benjamin Schneider |
| Abstract: | Will robots or artificial intelligence take our jobs? At the center of the debate about the future of work is “technological unemployment”, a term that has a seemingly simple definition but has in fact been used and defined differently by economists. In this paper, we explore how economists have discussed the potential for new techniques to replace workers since Aristotle, and how they have defined and conceived of technological unemployment over the past century. We begin with a detailed analysis of classic texts on this topic, from ancient times to the 20th century. To capture changes in the research frontier, we quantitatively and qualitatively analyze all 153 articles that mention the term “technological unemployment” in twelve major economics journals, including the top five, since their inception. We then use the 19 editions of Paul Samuelson’s seminal textbook and a cross-section of 43 economics textbooks from the 2000s and 2010s to observe the state of discourse and changes in economics pedagogy. Our analysis shows that economists have used a range of definitions in their discussions of technological unemployment, and most definitions are brief and imprecise. Economics textbooks notably omit technological unemployment in their discussions of the relationship between technological change and employment, despite the continuing interest in the topic in the academic literature. Nonetheless, we find a surprising consensus in our corpus that technological change may cause unemployment. Over time, the debate around technological unemployment has become narrower and more technical, but also more heated during historical periods of technological anxiety. We suggest that the adoption of a clear definition with specific temporal and scale modifiers could clarify theoretical debates and improve the precision of future empirical research on the topic, which will allow economists to speak directly to public and policy concerns |
| Date: | 2025–03–13 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:esohwp:_218 |
| By: | Junya Hamaaki (Faculty of Economics, Hosei University); Yoshitomo Ogawa (Faculty of Economics, Kwansei Gakuin University) |
| Abstract: | We examine the impact of Japan's pension reform on divorce. In typical Japanese couples, spouses enjoy marital gains from the division of labor, not only during their younger years but also into old age, with the primary earner generating income through pension benefits and the dependent spouse contributing through household work. The reform allowed dependent spouses to claim half of the primary earner's pension contributions during the marriage upon divorce. Thus, dependent spouses could secure these gains without maintaining marital relationships. Using the reform as a natural experiment, we test the hypothesis that the reduction in marital gains increased the likelihood of divorce. Our analysis reveals that among couples experiencing the largest reduction in these gains, divorce incidents rose by 10 to 20% in a few years after the reform. This finding highlights the importance of marital gains from the division of labor in shaping divorce decisions. |
| Keywords: | Divorce, Marital gains, Pension reform, Marital property division |
| JEL: | D13 H31 J12 K36 |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kgu:wpaper:289 |
| By: | Henrika Langen |
| Abstract: | This study examines how regional and occupation-specific skilled labor shortages influence companies' involvement in apprenticeship training. It explores the relationship between skilled labor shortages and demand for apprentices, qualification requirements, new apprenticeship contracts, and premature contract terminations in Germany. Skilled labor shortages are measured using the ratio of unemployed skilled jobseekers to job vacancies and a skilled labor shortage indicator from the Federal Employment Agency. Involvement in apprenticeship training is measured using annual apprenticeship contract data. To estimate the relationship between skilled labor shortages and apprenticeship activities, the study uses a two-way fixed effects model and a robust difference-in-differences approach. The findings show that skilled labor shortages bring about higher demand for apprentices and more hires, with companies recruiting a larger share of apprentices with lower qualifications. However, the impact on premature contract terminations remains unclear. Additionally, the study reveals significant variation across occupations in how companies adjust apprenticeship practices. |
| Keywords: | Skilled Labor Shortages, Vocational Education and Training (VET), Apprenticeships |
| JEL: | M53 J63 |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iso:educat:0238 |